


Put Some Fucking Socks On

by sraye96



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Dry Humping, Internalized Homophobia, Lack of Communication, Love Confessions, M/M, Making Out, accidental confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:07:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22309909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sraye96/pseuds/sraye96
Summary: Richie and Eddie were…. something. They hadn’t exactly put a name to it yet and Eddie was beginning to wonder if they ever would, but he was too busy lying to himself that it didn’t matter anyway to think about it much.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 12
Kudos: 237





	Put Some Fucking Socks On

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea of Eddie making Richie put socks on in the middle of making out and somehow it became a 5k fic, so enjoy?

Richie and Eddie were…. something. They hadn’t exactly put a name to it yet and Eddie was beginning to wonder if they ever would, but he was too busy lying to himself that it didn’t matter anyway to think about it much. They’d been best friends ever since Eddie cried in second grade music class when Bowers made fun of him and Richie told some joke about the bully’s mom to make him laugh, even if it did mean making an enemy of Bowers himself, who had graciously left him alone up until that point. They grew up inseparable from one another after that, always bickering about some disgusting thing Richie was doing, always laughing at some inane, probably not true medical statistic Eddie spouted out, always  _ always _ fighting over the hammock in the clubhouse. It was almost impossible to talk about one without the other; half the time their names got smushed together into one giant name, _ RichieandEddie,  _ but they never minded much.

They had always sat closer than they should and always spent more time alone together than the other Losers did and always touched more than two boys had any right to. If Richie’s time was up in the hammock, Eddie would simply cram himself in there with him instead of actually kicking him out like he threatened. If one of them was bored, they called each other first before the rest of the Losers to see if they could hang out. If they were a blanket short during a movie night, they shared one and huddled close together, closer than necessary, sometimes tangled up in each other’s arms during scary movies, just for safety they would always say.

When they were alone it was worse. Afternoons spent in Richie’s room meant listening to music and laying side by side on his bed, arms pressed flush against one another even though there was plenty of room to avoid it. On the days that were rough and Eddie needed comfort, Richie would always let his pinky travel just a tad too far, linking it with Eddie's. The days that Richie needed someone there to remind him they hadn’t forgotten about him, Eddie would always pull his head to his chest and run his fingers through his hair.

But Richie actually spent quite a bit more time in Eddie’s bed than in his own. Any night he had a nightmare - which was quite frequently, taking into account what they had been through that summer of ‘58 - he would sneak in through the window to take refuge in Eddie’s bed and his arms. Some nights they would hold each other in silence while others they would talk the night away to hide from the monsters of their past, but Eddie never turned him away and by the time they were thirteen, it happened more nights than it didn’t.

They never shared that with the other Losers, scared of what it meant if they said it out loud to another person. Of course, they didn’t talk about it with each other either. It was just an understood thing between them, like how Richie would buy Eddie sweets that his mother wouldn’t dare let him eat and Eddie would doctor any of Richie’s wounds no matter how many times he threatened not to the next time as he did so. They spent their nights together, wrapped up in each other’s arms, and never spoke about it in the daylight hours and it worked for them for years.

Until one day it didn’t. The summer after their junior year had just started and it was after midnight, so Richie was in Eddie’s bed - his second favorite place to be, if anyone asked him, which Eddie refused to because he knew he would say his first place was Eddie’s mom’s bed. Eddie had curled onto his side facing the wall in an attempt to sleep and Richie was flat on his back, staring at the ceiling like a jackass, probably thinking up some dumb joke to tell that would start a fight and keep them up. He was good at that. 

“Hey Eds.” His voice was quiet, quieter than probably anyone else ever got to hear, because he had enough sense to know better than to make too much noise and wake up Sonia.

It made Eddie feel special, knowing that he got to see this side of Richie that no one else did, but that was another thing that they didn’t talk about, so to hide any warm feelings he might have been dealing with, he hissed back, “That’s not my fucking name.”

“Sure, sure. Roll over. I wanna snuggle.”

Eddie did roll over but he’d be damned if he ever admitted that to anyone. “Fuck you.” He hated that he gave into whatever Richie wanted, but only because he knew he wasn’t supposed to treat a boy like that. In reality, he really didn’t hate it at all. He would give Richie anything he ever wanted if he could, but they didn’t talk about that either.

Richie already had his arms spread wide like an invitation and it was one Eddie could never refuse. Without another word of protest, he wiggled closer until he was in Richie’s reach and he allowed himself to be pulled against his chest and wrapped up in his arms. It was warm and safe and probably his favorite place in the world to be, even if he could never voice that sentiment. They laid there like that in silence besides the soft murmur of their breathing and the ticking of the clock on his nightstand for a handful of minutes, Eddie waiting to drift off to sleep like he always did.

Then Richie broke the script and did something he’d never done before. He surged forward and captured Eddie’s lips with his own, kissing him in a way that Eddie had never been kissed. Well, Eddie never  _ had _ been kissed in general, but that was beside the point. Richie kissed him like he needed air to breath, like he wanted him more than air maybe, like it was the only thing he’d ever wanted in his whole life. Eddie was pretty sure he ruined any other kisses for him from that point forward. How was he ever supposed to kiss another person after his first kiss being like that? Asshole. 

It ended quickly, much too quickly for Eddie’s liking. Richie pulled away and stared down at him with wide eyes, almost like he couldn’t believe it even though he was the one who kissed Eddie in the first place. There were so many thoughts flying through Eddie’s mind, so fast that he could barely reach out and touch them before they were a million light years away, that he couldn’t think of a single thing to say. So when Richie said, “Goodnight, Eddie Spaghetti,” he said the only words that he could grasp because they were as familiar as his own aspirator was to him at that point.

“Don’t call me that.”

He thought things would be irreparably different after crossing the line that they had delicately toed along ever since they met. He expected the next morning to come with a declaration from Richie that they could never be alone together again or an awkward sorry-but-I’m-not-like- _ that _ talk. Both outcomes left such a bad taste in his mouth that he was very pleasantly surprised when he instead woke up to Richie still snoring and drooling. At least he had that moment to cherish before he lost it all, right?

But then Richie woke up and didn’t mention it at all. He grinned and made a hushed joke about Eddie’s mom while he gathered up his things to sneak back out the window, which earned him a balled up sock to the head. Eddie got up to close the window behind him, like always, but Richie turned back to face him instead of climbing through like normal. They stared at one another for a moment too long to be normal before Richie cradled Eddie’s face in his big hands and leaned down to kiss him again. “See you later, alligator.” He murmured when he pulled away, a big dumb smile spreading across his face.

Eddie was in shock. He barely managed to croak out, “After while crocodile,” in response when Richie was halfway already through the window.

After that, things did change. Not much, though; not nearly in the ground shaking way Eddie would have thought they should have. They still were just a bit too close during the day and spent a lot of time arguing over anything and everything. Richie still made too many jokes about Eddie’s mom and Eddie continued to berate him for his terrible hygiene. No, the only real difference was that when they were alone, they filled up their time with as much making out as arguing. It never went much further, just some innocent kissing and a hand shoved up a shirt, but it quickly became Eddie's favorite part of the day regardless. He had a whole new way to shut Richie up that he couldn’t wait to explore the moment they got alone since it had only ever been a daydream before. 

It would start like their version of normal. Richie would shimmy through his window just after nine, when Eddie's mom would insist he should already be in bed despite the fact that he only had one year left until he was done with high school, then he would change into pjs and he would crawl into Eddie's bed, sprawling out like it was his own. Eddie would usually grumble about how he was taking up too much room and Richie would snicker some stupid joke about his mom that didn't really make sense. He would elbow his way into bed anyway and Richie would curl around him in a way that had always been too intimate for friends but they pretended not to notice, just like they always had. 

And then that's when it would fall into what became their new category of normal. One of them, usually Richie, but sometimes Eddie when he was feeling particularly brave, but more often than not in a semi-desperate attempt to make Richie  _ shut the fuck up _ , would press their lips together and they would get so swept up in each other that they couldn’t keep track of time. Richie was always the one to initiate new things, like trailing kisses down his jaw and neck or tugging Eddie's bottom lip between his teeth, but Eddie was a quick learner, picking up any new tricks to add to his repertoire. It was wonderful and thrilling and scary as hell after dreaming about it for so long. 

That's how they found themselves in December, just after Christmas but not quite the new year. Time was stuck in the awkward in between, just like them. Richie was straddling Eddie, one hand shoved up his shirt and the other used for balance right beside his head while they made out. Eddie had his hands buried in Richie's hair, tugging him off roughly whenever he needed to breathe, but mostly there just to give himself an out if it ever became overwhelming, which happened more often than he cared to admit. Richie slipped his tongue inside Eddie's mouth to lick the back of his teeth and he shuddered in response. He would have to stop them soon if he wanted to keep the fact that he was getting hard from just a little making out to himself.

Then something ice cold pressed against his calf, making him draw in a sharp breath. He yanked Richie's hair, pulling his mouth away so he could talk. "What the fuck, trashmouth? Why are your feet so goddamn cold?"

"I- Fuck, man, I don't know? They are? What does it matter?" Richie looked moderately annoyed, but Eddie didn't care. He didn't want his freezing fucking feet touching him.

He tried to lean back down to kiss him again, but Eddie held fast. He tugged his hair back again, firmer this time, and glared up at him. "Dude, what the fuck? Do you have poor circulation or something? Put some fucking socks on. Your feet are freezing."

"What?" Richie whined, letting his head get pulled back further. Eddie tried not to think about how he could feel how hard Richie was through his pants where he pressed against his thigh. They hadn't made it that far and- fuck, did he want to get that far even? They hadn't crossed that proverbial line, not yet, but he knew that if Richie wanted to, he would let him drag him over that line so fast his head spun. He tried really hard not to think about what it all meant since he knew they wouldn't talk about it later and thinking about it made it too real. "Dude, let me just kiss you. Does it matter if my feet are cold?"

"Seriously, Richie. You should talk to your doctor about that. Your feet shouldn't feel like fucking ice cubes touching me." Eddie hissed, but he finally gave in and let their lips crash together once again. 

For a few minutes, it felt like they were going to pretend that Eddie hadn't interrupted them at all. Richie pulled him up so he was sitting up and Eddie kissed back fiercely, biting and sucking at his bottom lip in a way that Richie hadn't even been able to perfect, and groaned into the kiss when Richie grinded his hips down. That feeling was new and he loved it and,  _ fuck _ , they were really doing it, proverbial line be damned.

Richie cupped his face in both his hands and the kiss turned into something more tender than what they usually did, but Eddie happily followed along. Honestly, he was happy to indulge Richie in anything he wanted until he got bored with.... whatever it was they were doing. Everything was perfect and he could almost get away with pretending that Richie was his boyfriend in that moment, instead of just his best friend that refused to talk about whatever it was that they were. That is, he could until he tried to tuck his ice cold feet under Eddie's thighs and the shock to his system was almost as effective as a cold shower. Almost. 

"Christ, Richie." He groaned as he shoved him away by his chest. "Your feet are so fucking cold. Put some fucking socks on." He wanted to drag him back and kiss him again and forget the whole thing, but RIchie’s toes were still touching his bare thighs and that was not the fuck okay.

"Like. Fuck, like right now?" Richie sighed, still trying to go in for another kiss despite Eddie's hands on his chest firmly holding him away. 

Eddie rolled his eyes. "No, tomorrow. Yes, right now, you asshole."

Richie studied his face for a moment before he heaved a big dramatic sigh and scrambled off the bed. He dug around his clothes on the floor, finally finding his socks stuffed in the pant legs of his jeans. He snatched them up and sat on the edge of the bed to pull them on quickly, obviously put off by the whole mess. "I hope you know this is stupid, Eds. We could be making out right now, but you're making me put on fucking socks." He grumbled, shoving Eddie back down on the bed roughly. "You're so stupid."

"You're stupid." Eddie shot back, grinning up at him. He may be a sucker for Richie and let him get away with just about anything, but Richie wasn't much better where he was concerned. It was kind of nice to see that he wasn't the only one whipped in the situation.

They stared at each other for a moment before Richie shook his head, grinning too, and leaned down for a kiss that was so much more sweet than the moment warranted. Richie pushed a hand up Eddie's shirt, running his fingers along his side, before his other followed, hiking his shirt up to his armpits. He nibbled at his bottom lip and grinded his hips down again and Eddie whined into his mouth. That must have meant something because Richie tried to pull his shirt off in response and he was too drunk on the feeling of him in his lap to protest. 

After his shirt was thrown across the room, Richie didn't immediately go back in for another kiss. Instead he drank in Eddie's bare chest like he couldn't get enough of the sight, fingers ghosting soft touches on his stomach as if he couldn’t decide between mapping out his skin with his eyes or his hands. Eddie realized he was only in a pair of running shorts and he felt exposed in a way that he couldn't explain, especially considering Richie had seen him naked more times than he could count. It was somehow different from skinny dipping in the quarry because he could see Richie's eyes taking in the pale skin of his chest, long since lost his tan from the summer, and feel the heat behind his gaze. Richie met his eyes for a moment, then looked down at his lips and back again. "Can I kiss you?" He murmured, one hand already cradling the side of Eddie's face, the other pressing his chest back towards the bed. 

"You've never asked for permission before." He muttered back, trying to hide his nerves under snark. He forced a grin for just a second before his back hit the bed and his lips were taken over by Richie's. 

It was different, but then again Eddie knew that they had always been different. They were more than friends, something without a definitive label, but nothing had ever felt right. What do you call someone who meant the world to you, even when they weren't the girl that everyone said you were supposed to love or even the girl that was supposed to be with you through high school? Someone who kissed you sweetly and made you laugh harder than anyone else and doctored all your scrapes and looked at you like the only thing that mattered in the world? Eddie hadn't figured it out yet and he wasn't sure he would ever find the right word to describe what Richie was to him. He’d settled on using best friend for so long that he was beginning to wonder if there was even a proper word out there to fit them.

Richie shifted, bringing up one of his knees in between Eddie's legs. He felt his dick bump against Richie's thigh and he gasped into the kiss, which Richie used as an opportunity to slip his tongue into Eddie’s mouth. Before he even realized what he was doing, he lifted his hips to chase the friction he'd gotten a small taste of. He didn't even have a chance to be mortified by it because Richie groaned into his mouth and ground down on Eddie's thigh that he was straddling.

Eddie wanted to tell him to stop, sure that they were about to do something they couldn't take back and that would change the basis of what they were to each other forever, but he couldn't. He found himself pressing against Richie's thigh with an urgency that he'd never felt himself before, arching up into the contact they shared. It was becoming harder to keep track of where his body ended and where Richie's started as they rutted against each other, their lips long since stopped moving against each other as they panted into each other's mouths instead.

Their hips moved in tandem with one another, grinding as they both raced to a peak that they had never reached with another person before. Eddie let his hand tangle into Richie's hair, gripping on as if it were the only thing keeping him sane. He whined into Richie's mouth, pulling him closer and drinking in every sound that fell from his lips. It was the most intimate that they had ever allowed themselves to get, but that was in the back of their minds as they raced to their climax. Richie clawed at Eddie, dragging his nails down his back before digging them into his sides and then they were up in his hair. He shuddered, burying his face into Eddie’s neck, and let out a soft noise that Eddie recognized for what it was and made him press harder and faster into his thigh, following fast behind him. 

They were both out of breath and clutching at each other, not sure what to do after their paced orgasms. Eddie thought he should probably be embarrassed for cumming so fast just from a little dry humping, but Richie came first so it wasn't like he could make fun of him for it. Plus it's not every day that the object of your affections just does  _ that _ , so he figured he could be allowed to just enjoy the moment instead. Richie came to his senses faster than Eddie, although that was debatable since it implied he ever had any sense to begin with. He hummed contentedly against Eddie's skin, kissing softly before shifting and trying to pry his pj pants away from his own skin, which he promptly gave up and settled for pressing kisses to his neck.

Eddie stayed silent, trying to breathe in as much of that moment as he could. He enjoyed all of the soft kisses Richie gave him, turning his head to try to encourage more. Richie had dropped almost all of his weight on Eddie, like his arms couldn’t bear to hold himself up any longer, but he found that he didn’t mind at all like he usually would. He carded his fingers through Richie’s hair gently, loosening any knots that he might have made. It was rare that they ever existed in silence for very long between both of their ever running motormouths, but neither of them seemed quite sure how to break the tension that had settled, or if they even wanted to in the first place, until Richie finally murmured, "Wow."

"Yeah." Eddie responded, shifting himself and trying not to think about how sticky he was in his shorts. "Do you want to borrow some clothes?"

"Please." Richie didn't move immediately though, intent on soaking up as much of the afterglow for as long as possible. Finally, he pushed away and let out a grunt of dissatisfaction, trying to adjust himself in his pants again even if it was a lost cause. 

Eddie shoved himself up after him, grimacing at the mess. He didn't let his mind focus on it though, instead scurrying across the room to dig out two pairs of cotton pj pants from his dresser. He tossed one across the room and scowled at the other, considering rinsing off before putting them on. He could get away with it, claiming he needed another shower if by some miracle his mother was awake and upstairs, but part of him felt bad making Richie deal with... that if he got to shower, but he couldn't Richie. He settled for grabbing a handful of tissues from the box on his desk and then he threw the box onto the bed too. 

Richie stripped off his pants and chunked them across the room to land in a haphazard heap on the floor next to where Eddie’s shirt had landed earlier. To give Richie some modicum of privacy, he turned his back while they both attempted to clean up with a handful of tissues and he tried not to think about how disgusting this whole situation should be. Eddie dressed quickly, grabbing a new shirt and pulling it over his head, rushing to get back to bed so he could curl up in Richie's arms. He knew that wasn't supposed to be what he wanted, but who was he to deny himself the small amount of enjoyment in the world before he lost it for good? He hadn't ever felt about a girl - not even Beverly - the way he felt about Richie. As long as he didn't ever say anything about it, it was fine, right?

Richie settled back into bed once he had pulled on his borrowed pants, taking up over half of it and looking pretty smug about it. Instead of shoving his way roughly into bed like usual, Eddie slotted himself against Richie’s side and threw an arm over his stomach, snuggling closer than he usually let himself instigate. Then, instead of discussing what they had just done, Richie turned to face him and pulled closer than he already was, so there was barely any room between their chests. 

In his own defense, Eddie was trying very hard not to think about what they had done even in the privacy of his own head. His mother would be furious to know that Richie had come into her house in the first place, let alone placed hands on her precious son, never mind his tongue and his lips and - Eddie fought back a shudder and fought that thought off too. Curse being a fucking horny teenage boy. But really, he didn't want to think about his mom, or what they had done, or what it meant, or what anything meant. All he wanted to think about was how beautiful Richie's blue eyes were and how warm he felt with his arms around him and how they seemed to fit perfectly together. 

Eddie's head was pillowed by Richie's arm and tucked under his chin, so he couldn't see his face and he didn’t think he wanted too either because of what he might see there. Was he regretting what they did? Was he smirking smugly like he did whenever he bragged about sex Eddie knew he had never had since he spent most of his nights in his bed anyway? Did he want to do it again like Eddie so desperately did? He wasn’t sure which one of those would be the worst one.

Richie had his hand up Eddie’s shirt again, this time gently scratching his back in the way that he knew Eddie loved. He wished he could just bottle up the moment to take with him for whenever Richie called off whatever this fling between them was. He loved the moments like that, moments he could pretend that Richie was his forever and not just using him for make out practice or whatever it was. Usually Richie would fall asleep first and he would lay his in bed, imagining what it would be like to finally voice all those thoughts whipping around in his head. Sometimes he imagined the look on Richie's face when he asked him to be his boyfriend, his lips stretching into a wide smile as he said yes. Other times he would imagine hearing Richie ask him to be his boyfriend and the snarky responses he would give before saying yes, because of course he would be his boyfriend, but he’d be damned if he gave in easily to anything Richie asked. His favorite thing to imagine what it would be like to finally say what always seemed to be on the tip of his tongue whenever he was around Richie, to finally get those three words out of his mouth instead of stuck in his head, to finally get to say _ - _

"Did you hear that Mike's dog finally had her puppies?" Richie asked out of nowhere.

Eddie was so caught up in his head that he forgot Richie was still awake and ready to burst into stupid chatter at any moment. He opened his mouth to respond that no, he had not heard that, but what came out instead was, "I love you."

Richie's hand on his back stilled. Neither of them said anything for a beat, then another. Eddie's heart pounded so hard he was pretty sure it was about to break his ribs and eject itself out of his chest. Holy shit, was he stupid? Those were just stupid fantasies he made up in his head to cope with the fact that he was irrevocably in love with his best friend who was a boy and probably using him to practice kissing and other stuff before he got himself the girlfriend he always talked about in front of their friends. He had never actually planned on saying those words out loud, especially not like that. 

When Richie pulled his hand out of Eddie's shirt, he knew he was fucked. That was it. That was the moment Richie was going to push him away and say he never wanted to see him again. "Um." He scrambled for something to say, anything that could salvage their friendship from the fucking mess he'd just made out of it, when Richie put his hand on his shoulder and pushed him away so he could look him in the eyes. He didn't look disgusted or mad or anything that Eddie had thought he would, but he wasn't smiling like that was the best news he had ever heard like he always did in Eddie's imagination. His face was very carefully neutral in a way that he didn't even think Richie was capable of. "Richie-, I-, look man, I-," 

"Do you mean it?" He whispered. Eddie stared at him, his mouth open and his excuses dying at his lips. It was like Richie was giving him an out, a chance to take it back and fix everything. It was exactly what he had wanted. But staring into his eyes, Eddie found that he couldn't lie. He couldn't get his voice to work either though, so he snapped his mouth shut, squeezed his eyes closed, and nodded sadly, sealing away his fate. "Oh thank fucking god." That wasn't what he had expected. He opened his eyes just as Richie's lips pressed into his in a messy kiss, much to enthusiastic to be coordinated. Before he could even process the fact that they were kissing, Richie pulled back and smiled like there was nothing that could make him happier, like that was the best news he could have ever heard. At that point, Eddie had just accepted he was dreaming because there was no way this was real life. And then Richie said, "I love you too, Eds. I mean, fuck, I always have. I’m pretty sure loving you is an integral part of my personality, actually, right after your mom jokes."

Of all the things he could possibly respond with, "What the fuck?" was probably not the best, but hey, at least his voice worked this time. "What the actual fuck? Am I dreaming?"

"What the- no, you're not dreaming. What are you talking about?" Richie's face screwed up in confusion, his eyebrows knitting together. "Unless this is, like, secretly a clown nightmare and you're about to eat me or something."

"What the fuck dude? Don't just bring up the clown like that." He shoved him lightly in the chest, too elated over the fact that  _ Richie Tozier loved him _ to really be mad about the clown reference. "Holy shit. This is really happening. You actually love me? What the fuck?" Eddie couldn't keep the awe out of his voice or stop his lips from curling up into a lovestruck smile. "I've been fucking freaking out for no reason? Oh my god, this is so stupid."

"You're stupid." Richie shot back, smiling himself. 

Eddie laughed incredulously. "I'm just- wow. Does that mean you'll be my boyfriend?"

"I thought you'd never ask, Kaspbrak." Richie kissed him again. 

When they pulled apart, he said, "I love you. For, like, always, I'm pretty sure. I can't believe this is real."

"What, seriously? Why did you think I was making out with you?" Richie snorted. 

"I don't know." Eddie huffed and looked away. "For, like, practice or something?"

"What? You thought I was kissing you to practice for your mom later?" 

"Richie, I swear to god-," Richie cut him off by kissing him again and as much as he tried, he couldn't fight the smile that curled at his lips. 

It wasn't how he had imagined it going at all. It was messy and awkward and filled with a lot more cursing, but it so much more  _ them _ than anything he could have dreamt up. They stayed up late trading kisses and soft words and giggling under the covers, something that they would surely regret in the morning when they woke up early to sneak Richie back out the window before Eddie’s mom woke up, but it was completely worth it right down to the last second. They were  _ RichieandEddie _ and they were boyfriends and that still didn't cover all of the things he felt about him but it sure seemed like a move in the right direction. 

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me on Tumblr at [SRaye96](https://sraye96.tumblr.com/) or on twitter at [Raye96s](https://twitter.com/Raye96S)


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